Drawing on data from "Prospects: The Congressionally Mandated Study of Educational Growth and Opportunity," this issue brief explores the magnitude of reading and mathematics differences in top and bottom schools. Four types of comparisons are made: (1) comparing the percentile ranks of the average student in the top and bottom quarters of schools…

To help educators with accountability concerns, this guide provides a method for establishing and evaluating accountability systems in states, districts, and schools. Standards-based accountability refers to collecting and reporting information based on students' progress toward achieving established standards. To be useful, an accountability…

Ways in which state governments can effectively deal with seriously underachieving schools are presented in this report. Governors and other state leaders are beginning to understand how important it is for students to be better prepared and that, as policymakers, they are obligated to demand accountability from students, from schools, and from…

The Bay Area Comer Development Program's "Readiness Five Phase Plan" was developed to bring the school sites involved in the Bay Area School Development Program (SDP) closer to the mission and goals of the program. To achieve this, a readiness assessment and checklists are used to determine if a site is ready to engage in the program. An…

The usefulness of involvement and talent development theory in the assessment of charter schools and their students' success was studied as part of an effort to develop an assessment that would match the views of primary stakeholders (parents and teachers) more authentically. The research considered how parents and teachers define success in…

The paper describes an academic support program at Mercy College of Northwest Ohio. The Project Assuring Student Success (PASS) Program is multi-faceted and comprehensive, designed to help students find success in their academic endeavors. The first phase of this program was the development and implementation of the Student Success Center. Some of…

This handbook provides current regional accreditation eligibility requirements and accreditation standards for community, junior, and specialized two-year colleges. It is intended for the use of institutions under review, members of evaluation teams, and others that are concerned with good practice in associate degree-granting institutions.…

This paper examines Alabama's State Education Report Card for the year 2000. It identifies predictors for student academic achievement at both the district and school levels for 128 public school systems and 1,272 public schools. Separate analyses were conducted for 61 city and 67 county school systems. The variables included number of students,…

This paper examines the work of the education inspectorates in England and Wales. It specifically addresses the inspectorates' articulation in the Labour Party's general policy shift toward standards-driven reform. The text states that the school inspectorates have been cast as uniquely powerful regulatory agencies within the public sector and are…

The Alabama State Department of Education School System Report Card provides annual data for each of Alabama's city and county public school systems, including student achievement indicators on the Stanford Achievement Test, High School Exit exam, writing tests, ACT test, dropouts, ADA expenditures, free and reduced lunch, system revenues, and…

This paper discusses the critical link between leadership and change. It describes three public-school organizations' reform efforts, basing its discussion on the leaders who guided the schools. The paper claims that the role of leadership must include the art of leading and changing, and it focuses on how to understand influence, paradigm shifts,…

This book examines educational improvement in Great Britain in recent years. It addresses three concerns: (1) develop better estimates of the extent to which schools have changed in their effectiveness over time; (2) understand the factors and strategies associated with changes in performance across schools; and (3) explore the school-improvement…

The report shows the performance of Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC) (Florida) on the measures stipulated for the 2000-01 allocation of Performance Based Budgeting (PBB). Of the total state funds allocated for Performance Based Budgeting, a certain percentage is designated for each of the measures. Colleges earn "points" according to…

A systematic analysis of student assessment data from Maine and Kentucky, using National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data and state and local assessment results, was conducted to address issues of measurement and attribution involved in evaluating systemic school reform. This paper (1) examines ways to cope with the challenges of…

This document is comprised of four Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC) newsletters. The September 1999 issue is entitled "Capitol Comments: Read What Lawmakers Say about Community Colleges in Response to the Third FACCCTS Legislator Poll." This newsletter contains the following articles: "Capitol…